Friday, April 17, 2015

4MRMarket Report: Re-Opening this Sunday April 19th!!

Scenes from the creation of 4MRMarket

The Four Mile Run Farmers & Artisans Market (4MRMarket) will be open every Sunday from 9am until 1pm from April 19th through November in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. (click here for directions)

Four Mile Run Farmers & Artisans Market is coming back from our winter break!! Look for us to reopen April 19th 2015!

2014 was a great year and a year of growth, 4MRMarket is looking for much more in 2015! With the music floating through the air and children playing all around the Four Mile Run Park Plaza, last season often felt like a festival atmosphere. We hope you found our little market to be a community asset and that you've set a new year's resolution to bring a friend (or two!) this season to help expand 4MRMarket even further. We know we've enjoyed being there week in and week out and we have all of you to thank for making our first 4MRMarket seasons happen!

It's been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work and it's awesome to look back to 2011 and see how far we've come. We've all helped bring about a lot of improvement to Four Mile Run Park through fund-raising and plain, old hard work. We've helped raise funds for a variety of other non-profits and helped folks of all walks of life Buy Fresh, Buy Local.

Look for more news later, but for now, read on about how you can help us continue to build community!

4MR Community News

Over two dozen trees were planted in early November in 4MR Park along the Mark Drive alleyway. They look great and will grow into a mix of shade and ornamental trees.

4MRMarket donated $1,000 to the tree planting efforts and raised $2,000 more between the $1,000 won from ActionAlexandria Green Ideas Challenge (funded by Dominion Power) and $1,000 from crowd funding through Citizinvestor!

Don't forget to check out more information about the 4MR Park Community Fall Tree Planting at: www.arlandria.org


    This year, the work of the Four Mile Restoration Plan begins in earnest and parts of the park trail will be closed during our 4MRMarket season. We plan to work on some improvements meanwhile that can debut next year when the restoration pilot project is completed.

    Missing and dated signs.
    We're hoping to organize a design challenge, partnering students with mentors, to create the next generation of interpretive signs in Four Mile Run Park in order to upgrade and replace the dilapidated, dated or missing signs along the restored Four Mile Run Stream and Wildlife Preserve.

    4MRMarket has already committed $1,000 raised from market operation to match with additional donations. MOM's Organic Market has also agreed to contribute $2,000 more. The need and desire to replace and repair the environmental education signs has already been identified in the planning for the Four Mile Run Park Master Plan and Four Mile Run Restoration Project. The design challenge would hopefully be timed to coincide with the restoration work in the stream and wetlands in Four Mile Run Park which is having a formal kick-off in May.

    See below all the ways to help and participate in the market!
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    The supercool 4MRMarket t-shirt
    BUY. Proceeds of our 4MRMarket T-shirts go to support the expansion and revitalization of 4MR Park. They cost $12 and come in 4 colors.

    DONATE. Help 4MRMarket help 4MRPark. Tax-deductible donations can be made to support us in our efforts to revitalize Four Mile Run Park. Donate to the City's Living Landscape Fund to fund tree and other amenities at 4MRExpand More information here.

    VOLUNTEER. We love help with set-up and tear-down and/or processing SNAP/EBT and Credit / Debit Card sales.  Just find a Market Manager to ask to help, or email us at 4MRMarket@arlandria.org for more info.

    FOLLOW. Keep up to date on all the goings on by following 4MRMarket on FacebookTwitterGoogle+ or via our website and blog.


    SPREAD THE WORD.  Please tell folks about us. And tell folks about some of the great things we're doing. For instance, all SNAP/EBT participants can take advantage of the Inova-sponsored "Double Dollar" program again this year that doubles the first $10 SNAP participants spend at the market. 4MRMarket is the first farmers’ market in Northern Virginia (and still the only) to accept SNAP. 
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    Buy Fresh Buy Local 4MRMarket products.
    The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

    For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/
    On Facebook: facebook.com/4MRMarket
    On Twitter: @4MRMarket
    Contact us at: 4MRMarket@arlandria.org
    Or call the 4MRMarket hotline: (804) 4mi-Run1